PREVIEW GAME #25 Canadiens @ Tampa Bay (March 9/2013)

……The Canadiens will have four rookies in their lineup. Joining Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk will be forward Gabriel Dumont and defenceman Greg Pateryn. Dumont will centre Colby Armstrong and Travis Moen on the fourth line replacing Ryan White. Michel Therrien elected to go with the 6’2″ 214 pound Pateryn rather than Tomas Kaberle on the third defence pairing with Francis Bouillon.

…….The Canadiens have at least a point in 12 of their last 13 games (9-1-3). Their 7-2-2 start on the road is their best since they opened their 1997-98 season with a 9-2-0 record.

….. When the Canadiens last played in Tampa February 12th they had lost three in a row. They beat the Lightning in a shootout after blowing a 3-0 lead in the third period. The Canadiens have lost only one game in regulation time since.

…..The first three games of the current five game road trip has seen three different lines taking centre stage. .David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Brendan Gallagher combined for three goals and six points in Sunday’s 4-3 victory over Boston. Michael Ryder, Brian Gionta and Tomas Plekanec had five points in Tuesday’s 6-3 loss to the New York Islanders (Ryder had three assists) and the Brandon Prust-Lars Eller-Alex Galchenyuk line contributed six points in Thursday’s 4-2 win over Carolina.

….. P.K Subban has a five-game point streak going (3 goals, 4 assists). He has a point in 12 of the 18 games he’s played this season and with six goals is now tied for the lead among NHL defensemen in goals scored.

…..Alexei Emelin has six points in his last six games.

…. The Canadiens power play is 8-for-33 (24.2 percent) over the last eight games.

TampaBay Notes –

…..Against the Canadiens at home the Lightning are 6-1-3 over the last 12 games. They won both games last season in Tampa.

…..The Lightning lost 2-1 at home to Winnipeg Thursday. Over their last 17 games they are 4-12-1 after starting the season with 6-1-0. Going into Saturday’s games they are 5 points behind the eighth place Rangers and one point ahead of cellar dwelling Florida.

….Over their last five games the Lightning power play is 1-for-21. When the team was 6-1-0, the power play was 12-for-35 (34.3 percent). Since then it is 7-for-61 (11.5), 3-for-28 at home, including 0-for-14 in its past three games.

….. Tampa has lost seven of nine overall and six of their last seven at home after they opened the season on a five game home winning streak..

…….Steven Stamkos leads the NHL with 18 goals. The Canadiens held him off the scoresheet February 12th. In the five previous games against Montreal he had 5 goals and two assists. Since February 12th he has 11 goals and 18 points in 12 games.

…. Vincent Lecavalier has no goals in nine games. Against the Canadiens he has 19 points his last 18 games. Teddy Purcell has gone 10 games without a goal. Earlier, Martin St. Louis had a 10-game drought.

……Lecavalier has seven years remaining in his no-trade contract with an annual cap hit of $7.72 million.

….. Cedrick Desjardins, who was re-aquired from the Canadiens in a minor league trade three weeks ago will start in goal for the Lightning. It will be his third in the NHL and first since 2010-11. Desjardins made 27 saves in his NHL debut, a 4-1 Lightning win over the Canadiens in Tampa on Dec. 30, 2010.

….Centre Cory Conacher leads all rookies in points with 20 (7 goals, 13 assists) Brendan Gallagher and Alex Galchenyuk are tied for 3rd on the rookie list with 13 points each. Florida’s Jonathan Huberdeau is second in points with 17 and leads rookie goalscorers with 12. Gallagher leads rookies in plus/minus at plus-10.

…..Former Canadien Marc-Andre Bergeron will be a healthy scratch for the four straight game.

…..Tampa Bay has scored four or more goals in a game in 10 of their first 24 games.

THE COLD HARD STATS –

Season Record – Canadiens (15-5-4) First in Eastern Conference. TampaBay (10-13-1) Thirteenth in East

Last Ten Games – Canadiens (6-1-3) TampaBay3-7-0

Season Series: Second of three meetings. The Canadiens handed the Lightning a 4-3 shootout loss in Tampa on Feb. 12. The Canadiens had a 3-0 lead entering the third period on goals by Gionta, Subban and Moen. Victor Hedman scored twice and Sami Salo scored with 46 seconds left to tie the game. The Canadiens ended a three game losing streak when David Desharnais scored in the shootout.

Who’s Hot: Canadiens – P.K. Subban – 2 goals 4 assists in five-game point streak. Tampa Bay – Steven Stamkos has scored goals in nine of his last 11 games. He has 11 goals and six assists over that span. Martin St. Louis -five assists and seven points during a five-game point streak.